Digital medical examination images which require computed image processing are generated by medical examination methods such as computer tomography, magnetic resonance, ultrasound, methods of nuclear medicine for example, and also increasingly by digital x-ray methods. For this purpose, these complex method steps serve to optimally display the information content of the examination images which is significant for the diagnosis. There is thus a demand for automatic methods which ensure that the examination image or an image series is optimally displayed without further user intervention. A central problem with the image display is the definition of the minimum and the maximum gray-scale value of the pixels. The average level (level) and the contrast (window) can also be defined instead of the extreme values. However, the definition of the gray-scale values and/or the definition of the level and window are critical. Image information is lost if the window is selected too narrow, or the level is not optimal, and if the window is selected too wide the contrast of the examination image is too low and the details are thus more difficult to recognize.